He’s the Minister of Energy and Resources, the Minister of Transport, and probably the country’s pre-eminent EV devotee.

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges he will be right in his element when he fronts up at Bayfair for one of several Tauranga events embracing International Drive Electric Week.

Minister of Transport Simon Bridges with his new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Photo: Chris Callinan.

About 20 electric vehicles will be on display at the event taking place this Saturday, from 12pm to 3pm.

“This will be a great opportunity for people to come down and see what these vehicles are about,” says Simon.

The Minister will be showing off his sleek new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. He’s had it for a month and is still on the original tank of gas.

“If you put it on charge every night, you hardly ever need to use petrol, especially if your driving is around town.”

International Drive Electric Week runs through until Sunday and will be the biggest celebration of electric vehicles in New Zealand increasing from just a few events in 2015 to more than 50 events around the country this year.

“The Government has set a target to double the number of EVs on the road to 64,000 by 2021.”

To achieve the target the Government has extended the RUC (road user charges) on light EVs which could save drivers up to $600 a year, a contestable $6 million fund to get innovative EV projects underway and working on procurement options for bulk EV purchasing.

“We want to encourage New Zealanders to go electric because EVs are cheaper to run than petrol or diesel vehicles, they’re powered by our abundant renewable electricity supply, and they’ll reduce the emissions from the country’s vehicle fleet,” says Simon.

The International Drive Electric Week event takes place at Bayfair this Saturday, September 17, from 12pm to 3pm. 

For a full list of International Drive Electric Week events visit: www.leadingthecharge.org.nz/calendar or for more information about electric vehicles see: www.electricvehicles.govt.nz